Our two ork prisoners died, pierced by the arrows of their comrades. I barely realised the death of Antoine, I just felt him becoming a burden, so I let his body fall on the ground, and threw one of the javelins I had in my shield-hand.
There were four archers raining arrows, and the six orks guarding the stairs also threw their spears at us. But we still weathered this hail of projectiles. Jim and I both had exquisite armour and shield, and Beldrak was much less conspicuous, so we drew the majority of the attacks to ourselves. Some of the arrows and javelins left behind bruises, but not one of them did pierce my mail.
Then we reached the defenders on the stairs.
I have to say, the critters dwelling in the sunken citadel near Oakhurst were harmless in comparison. A goblin will never be as big or strong as a human. Orks on the other hand, were on par with us. The first blow I took with my shield would have split my head in two, had it struck home. The second blow shorn off a big chunk of my shield as it connected, and numbed my arm. But I had steel in my hand too, and I gutted the first ork with a savage thrust. The beast looked at me with wonderment, then vomited blood and died. Even though these orks were as strong as a human, they still lacked proper protection. Every one of my blows that struck home, drew blood, and some of the grievous wounds Shatterspike left behind were deadly in themselves.
I hacked, slashed and thrust, Jim's steel glinting on my right, and Trueanvil chanting his deadly incantations behind us. We killed all six orks, and were left standing, if battered. The heavy smell of shit and blood filled the air.
“Forward!” I shouted, drunk with victory. “Break down the door!”
This was how war should be fought. Rushing at the enemy with blinding speed, breaking through their lines, and pressing on without leaving them time to recover or reorganise. This was the true Roman way. In my imagination, I already saw us battering down the gate, getting on the flank of the archers and cutting them down. Great Jules or whatever his name, would be too late with the reinforcements. We would defeat the orks in detail as they were hopelessly trying to regain their balance. They would be hopelessly outmatched by the lightning-speed of our attack, and fall prey to our steel and magic one by one.
I was a reckless fool, and we almost died that day.
The gate was not easy to batter down. It was built of stone and there was no visible lock mechanism. Jim and I threw ourselves against the door, but it held, and the archers still kept us under fire.
“Beldrak, do something!” I shouted.
The wizard was already chanting before I opened my mouth, and I saw a black wall appearing before one of the arrow-slits. Then as I looked harder, the blackness flickered, and I saw the arrow-slit again behind, but the dark shroud also remained. Illusion, I thought. The wizard already showed us a few tricks like this, so we don't get flustered if we meet a mirage in battle.
The ork archers, on the other hand, seemed sufficiently puzzled, because their firing ceased for now.
“Trueanvil, come here!” groaned Jim. The dwarf obeyed, and now we all three tried to force back the gate at once. It did not move.
“Damn, we have to go back and fell a tree to use it as a battering ram,” I cursed. “Why didn't I think of this before?”
“Because you are a bloody idiot, rushing into his death without a second thought,” declared Beldrak. “Try it one more time. I know this mechanism. If we are lucky, the orks did not lock the gate. In that case, three strong men can dislodge the door with bare hands. On the count of ten, give it your all.”
We wheezed and stretched our arms, relaxing our muscles. Then, on Beldrak's shout, we threw our whole strength and weight against the door. And this time the gate budged!
“Push!” roared Beldrak, we pushed, and the door gave way inch by inch.
“We are in!” shouted Jim. Not a moment too soon, because the black shroud Beldrak conjured before the arrow-slits started to fade away. Now we could disappear from their sight.
We were more in a cavern than in a hall, and in the middle of the room there gaped black abyss, a ravine that was at least forty feet wide, and who knows how deep. A hanging bridge was leading to the other side, where some columns stood, and the only other exit from the room.
“Three cheers for the stupidity of the enemy, saving from our own stupidity,” said the dwarf dryly. “Now, let us...”
I was already on the bridge, advancing. Trueanvil was right, we didn't have time to waste!
“...examine our situation with a cool head again. Dammit, Arnold!”
The bridge was about as stable a contraption as it looked. Which means not at all. It wobbled with my every step, and I almost fell down. Just as I regained my balance, two orks stepped forward from among the columns on the other said, and hurled javelins at me. I instinctively ducked, and again, almost fell to my death. I saw from the corner of my eye a third ork running out from the room, probably to hasten the reinforcements.
Jim ran past me, crossed the bridge, and cut down one of the orks without stopping, while Beldrak felled the other. I tried to follow the tiefling. This time my foot got entangled into the cables, and I fell on my hands and knees.
The guard that ran away a minute before returned, and he had brought friends with him. The orks arrived running, two of them attacked the tiefling, while the third one started to cut through the ropes holding the bridge. Dis Pater take all of you! I cursed in my humiliation as I crawled back to our side of the ravine.
“Defeated by a bridge, I see.” Beldrak was hurling motes of fire as fast as he could, but he still spared the time for a snide remark.
“Very amusing!”
I killed the ork that was trying to cut down the bridge, my javelin pierced through his belly, and sent him tumbling to the floor. Beldrak killed one of the orks battling with Jim. But the other one had a proper mail and shield. The tiefling realised that he won't be able to simply cut down his enemy this time. With the long and heavy swords like Jim's weapon, the proper response would have been to grab onto the blade, and guide the point through a weaker place in the enemy's mail. But Jim threw away his sword and shield instead, and grabbed on the ork.
The beast flailed; tried to stab the tiefling, but Jim was an outstanding wrestler so he could close the ork into his iron embrace. The enemy was thrashing violently now, trying to slip out of the tiefling's clasp, but to no avail. Jim dragged the greenskin to the edge of the ravine and sent him tumbling down with a hard push.
“Well, won't you come over?” he shouted to us.
Till this point, the plan to defeat the enemy in detail was working out splendidly even if my attempt to cross the bridge ended in abject failure. But now, before I could try to cross again, a new group of orks appeared. This time there were four beasts, and behind them, a giant, pale creature walked.
“So Great Jules is an ogre,” said Beldrak. “And I am already tired...”
“Jim, come back!” But it was too late. Three of the orks were already on him, and one hacked away the last cable keeping the bridge in place. The contraption started to crash slowly, almost gently, but it accelerated, and soon the severed end of the bridge plunged into the wall of the ravine on our side. It came apart instantly, planks cracked, broke, and fell down into the gaping abyss.
Change of plans. “Beldrak! Use your unseen hand to bring the end of my rope to Jim!”
“He will crash into the rock.”
“He will live.” I threw my last javelin, and wounded an ork on his arm.
“I have to cast other spells now.” The wrinkles on the wizard's forehead deepened from concentration. “Just throw the damn rope to him!”
Amazingly, Jim managed to kill one of his opponents, and still held out against the other two. But the giant called Great Jules was only a few paces away from him now, and behind the pale beast, there were two wolves, bigger than any wolf had the right to be.
“Jim, catch!” I threw the rope, but my first try fell short. Meanwhile Beldrak finished his chanting, and suddenly an entangled mess of cobweb fell on Great Jules and his pets. The two wolves were tangled up, but the giant tore through the sticky little threads.
“Back!” he shouted to the orks. I did not understand the word, but as the smaller beasts pulled back and gave way, it was easy to divine the meaning.
It was a race against time. Jim was already battered and pale, but he held on against the giant. He picked up his sword and shield again before the last group of orks attacked him, and now he was cowering behind the shield, occasionally stabbing out. I was frantically trying to coil up my rope again, but it was entangled with the hanging cable of the collapsed bridge, and I was watching helplessly as Great Jules pushed Jim back towards the wall.
Beldrak hit again. A thunder echoed through the cavern. The air violently churned on the right of the pale giant, thrusting him towards the ravine. Jim saw his opportunity, and sprang forward to tip over the ogre. For a moment, everything seemed to balance on the edge of a razor.
Then Great Jules regained his balance. Jim slammed into him, bounced off without effect, and before he could hide again behind his shield, the giant's axe connected with his head.
It was a bad swing. Deliberately or by accident, but the axe turned flat, and instead of cleaving Jim in two, it merely knocked him out. The ogre smiled, and threw Jim onto his shoulder with half hand.
“It's over,” whispered Beldrak pale.
“No!” I shouted. “Jules, you cowardly worm! Why have you destroyed the bridge?! Are you afraid of us?! I challenge you to a duel, you maggot! Come here you bastard, come over you wimp!”
The ogre looked into my eyes, then took a few steps back. He can't mean to, can he? Even a big brute like him can't jump over... But Jules was running now, evidently intent on crossing the ravine with one mighty leap. I winced as I imagined the trajectory of the great body. He will smash into me! I took a hurried step back, and then the giant suddenly stopped. He stood on the edge of the ravine and laughed at me.
“Who is the coward now, little man?” his deep voice was full of derision. Surprisingly, he spoke impeccable Common. “I would come over to teach you some respect, but even the Great Jules can't jump over this ravine. Perhaps we will duel after we repaired the bridge.”
He laughed again.
“But first, you will bring me money. You killed my servants. You will beg for my forgiveness. Bring me a thousand coins of gold, so I forgive you, and let you live. Bring me twice as much, and I will let your horned comrade go. Otherwise... you probably already know what will happen to him otherwise.”
With that, he turned around and walked away. The remaining orks followed him.
Jim became the prisoner of the enemy.
